These are the opinions of an unknown man. I write about whatever comes to mind.

"Mistrust those in whom the urge to punish is strong." Friedrich Nietzche

"Any and all non-violent, non-coercive, non-larcenous, consensual adult behavior that does not physically harm other people or their property or directly and immediately endangers same, that does not disturb the peace or create a public nuisance, and that is done in private, especially on private property, is the inalienable right of all adults. In a truly free and liberty-loving society, ruled by a secular government, no laws should be passed to prohibit such behavior. Any laws now existing that are contrary to the above definition of inalienable rights are violations of the rights of adults and should be made null and void." D. M. Mitchell (from The Myth of Inalienable Rights, at: http://dowehaverights.blogspot.com/)

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

When the Law Is Wrong

Can the law ever be wrong? Hell yes it can! If fact, many of the laws today are very wrong indeed...if we were able to have a conversation with any, or all, of the Founding Fathers of this once great nation about legitimate and illegimate use of government power.

I am specifically talking about the recent murder in Atlanta of an 88 year old woman by the police. Murder? Yes, the police murdered that woman.

The drug laws, that allowed the police to get a no-knock warrant, that allowed the police to go to that woman’s house, that allowed the police to break in her door, that allowed the police to murder an old woman defending herself from what anyone would think was a home invasion by thugs, those laws are most definitely wrong. Here are the principles involved.

1. Inalienable Rights: In order for a truly free and liberty-loving society to exist then there must be some things that are not up for vote, that cannot be made illegal by law. If your behavior is done alone or with consenting adults, if it does not violate the rights of others, if it does not create a nuisance in public, if it does not disturb the peace, then you have an inalienable right to that behavior no matter how many others think that the behavior in question is evil, wrong, or morally corrupt.

2. Property Rights: In order for a truly free and liberty-loving society to exist then you must be able to own property. In order to fully own any property you must be able to use it or dispose of it as you wish, just so long that in so doing you do not violate the rights of others. If you cannot own property, or if you are permitted to own property, but cannot use it or dispose of it as you wish, then you are, in fact, a slave to whoever controls your ability to own, use, or dispose of said property. Your most basic property is yourself: your body and your mind.

3. Self Defense Rights: Unlike in England or Australia, and who knows where else, where to defend yourself could be used to convict you of the crime of using improper force or of using an offensive weapon (Go figure!), in the United States, or at least some parts of it, you still have the right to defend yourself, including the use of deadly force, under certain circumstances. Actually, I have always figured that no one forces a burglar to break into a house and if he is shot and killed while doing so, whether he has a gun or not, is on him. If he were an honest person, rather than a filthy thief, he wouldn’t have to worry about it. When a bad guy points a gun at you and pulls the trigger, no policeman will magically appear between you and the bullet. The police have a two-fold purpose: First, to investigate after a crime has been committed; second, to harass otherwise honest citizens. Self defense rights are based on your right to own property. If you do not have the right to defend your property, especially yourself, then anyone who wants to—and there are many of them out there—can just take it from you…including your life.

4. Drug Rights: Based on principles 1 and 2, above, you (as an adult) have the right to use, or even abuse, any drug that you want, not just the two most harmful, but legal ones: alcohol and tobacco. The mere use of alcohol causes the majority of violent crimes, including murder, rape, assault, and child molesting. Alcohol use is also implicated in approximately 200,000 deaths per year. The use of tobacco is implicated in over 400,000 deaths per year. The use of all the illegal drugs is implicated in fewer than 10,000 deaths per year. That is, alcohol and tobacco are 60 times more harmful than all the illegal drugs. That’s rather like having a broken leg with the bone sticking out and a broken little finger and wanting the doctor to attend to the little finger while ignoring the leg. But hey! That’s the reality of the effects of our illegitimate, rights-violating drug laws that has now caused the murder of an old woman.

The murder of the old woman in Atlanta is not the first time that the police have murdered innocent people in drug raids. And yes, I truly believe that that old woman was innocent of anything except trying to defend her life against thugs breaking into her house. And who is responsible for this hideous and perverse crime? Why, as Walt Kelly’s Pogo character said, “we have met the enemy and he is us.”

Yes, all Americans who do not understand, care about, or strongly support the principles delineated above are responsible for this murder. Specifically, however, the lawyers and lawmakers (and what lawmaker isn’t a lawyer) who write the laws that violate our rights, and the executive powers (governors and the president) that enforce these laws, as well as the judges and justices who uphold these laws are specifically responsible for the murder of that old woman. Those men and women are supposed to be learned and should know right from jump street what the true meaning of an inalienable right is. But they don’t. They are following a centuries old example of making religious sins into secular crimes. Because when it comes right down to it, smoking pot or snorting cocaine, or what have you, is not a crime, that is, it doesn’t violate the rights of others. It is a sin. Certain religious people, some not so religious in the traditional sense, believe that drug use is immoral. And it might well be. But its none of their damned business. And it shouldn’t be against the law. And that is what cause the Atlanta police to murder that poor old woman

The Myth of Inalienable Rights as Applied to the War on Drugs: The Tyranny of Legislating Morality

Violence, corruption, the violation of the rights of millions of citizens, the highest per capita incarceration rate, as well as the greatest number of actual people in prison of any nation in the world, all brought to you by the $100 billion per year failure and longest-running war in America...the so-called "war on drugs." If you thought the government was supposed protect your rights, not violate them, you need to read this essay: The Myth of Inalienable Rights, at http://dowehaverights.blogspot.com/.